British Prime Minister Theresa May stood by her so-called Chequers plan for Brexit on the first day of the Conservatives' annual conference, after ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson launched a fresh attack against her plan to leave the European Union.

Some of the world's biggest financial firms are preparing for life after Brexit by moving their EU operations away from London to Paris, with BlackRock Inc and JPMorgan Chase & CO set to join Bank of America Corp and Citigroup Inc in the group favouring the French capital as the financial trading hub for continental Europe.

British finance minister Philip Hammond will say in his speech to the Conservative party conference on Monday that big employers will be allowed to hand up to a quarter of their apprenticeship levy funds to businesses within their supply chains, in an effort to improve workplace-based training. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)